Jack of Spades
by Zarunak
Summary: Uzumaki Kushina was one of the greatest interrogators the Leaf had ever seen, now years later the Legendary Sadist of the leaf finally meets his teacher's only child. Naruto grows to learn that torture isn't about sadism, its just business.
1. Chapter 1

**Jack of Spades**

_**This is just something that has been bouncing around in my head for a little while… I am actually quite busy right now and shouldn't be doing this but I just couldn't get it out of my head! I was inspired by a story called "The Interrogator" I recommend it… its worth reading.**_

**Disclaimer: just an idea I had while reading another story. I don't own the original story and am making no money from this one… just in case you didn't already figure that out.**

**Summary: during the time of the war there was an incredible interrogator in the village of the leaf, her name was Kushina and now her only remaining student has risen to the position that she once held. The sadist of Konoha will not rest until he repays his teacher for everything she did for him.**

"He's her son." It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact.

"He is." The elder man replied cautiously.

"I want him," the scarred young man looked over at the boy who was solving a puzzle on the floor of the Hokage's office.

The aged ninja stared at his best interrogator in shock, "whatever for?"

The man chuckled, "you didn't see him this morning, he is a true monster when it suites him… he may look nothing like his mother but his personality is identical." He replied, "He drove a man into the depths of terror and despair without even knowing what he was afraid of! He sensed his fear towards him, and heard the things they call him and just used that alone to terrify and interrogate a grown man."

His superior stood stock still, his complexion pale. "He knows then?"

"Sure does, took him a few minutes to piece it together from his victim's babbling. Of course I clarified the difference between the fox and him after having the fool arrested so you don't have to worry about that."

"You want to adopt him?"

"Not fully, I want to take him as an apprentice. If it helps I will take over as his legal guardian as well." Morino Ibiki declared with finality, "I would not dare consider myself a proper substitute to his parents."

The Hokage sighed and reached into his desk, "I suppose if he is willing then I can provide you with the paperwork."

-

The six year old boy had proven to be more than willing to learn the way of torture and interrogation. He had agreed instantly on the condition that he gets to know more about his family.

Ibiki had been happy to tell the boy about his mother and about his apprenticeship under her, but his father was a dangerous topic and it was decided that the information would become accessible when he had learned more about the art of secrecy.

Time passed swiftly and the ANBU agents of Konoha quickly grew to respect the young boy for his talent and willingness to learn even the most subtle ninja skills. Where most children dreamt of the days when they would be saving princesses (or princes as the case may be) and causing vast amounts of (non-lethal) damage with overly flashy ninjutsu; Naruto dreamt of new ways to obtain the secrets which hid within the hearts and minds of his foes and the days when he would could prove his skills to the people of his village.

He grew over the years into a strange child, far more mature than a child had any business being and gifted with a keen eye and a sharp tongue. His appetite for knowledge was only surpassed by his appetite for ramen.

His combat skills were superior to most ninja students but not by that much, his true skill in battle was the ability to read his opponent's emotions and use his wickedly sharp tongue to force them into making mistakes.

He was quite well in the Torture and Interrogation department ever since the first solo interrogation he preformed.

-Flashback-

Naruto strode into the interrogation room then paused and looked around in a nervous fashion, wearing the look of a child who had entered a place he wasn't supposed to.

Once he was sure that there was no one there except for his victim he practically skipped over to the table that stood before the captured ninja. Then he reached into his pocket and withdrew a deck of cards and after shuffling they began to deal out two hands.

As the interrogation victim starred blankly at the child that had somehow snuck into the interrogation department of a hidden village, the other interrogators stood behind the hidden window and observed with equal curiosity.

When he had finished dealing Naruto motioned for the man to pick up his hand (he had his hands in manacles which were attached to a chair but he could still move them a little) he then sat across form the man and began a game of poker.

"Wow, I am so glad I found someone around here to play with. All the ninja just refuse whenever I ask." He declared loudly in the voice of a naïve child.

The prisoner capitalized on this opportunity to learn more about his circumstances, "how did you get in here anyway? I didn't think there were any children allowed in here."

"I have always been in here." The boy replied, "My mom was some kind of big time interrogator and the guy in charge of this place thinks something bad will happen to me if I go outside with ought him." (Ibiki chuckled at the half-truth)

"Oh, then you must know the building pretty well." The prisoner pushed at what he thought was an opportunity.

"Sure, but it's really boring and not interesting at all… Hey! You're from outside right? You must have seen all kind of cool places right?" the excitable child declared with wide sparkling eyes.

This exchange continued for over an hour and all the while the boy was hiding behind the mask of an innocent (and particularly inobservant child) while slowly getting more and more information out of the man.

By the time the interrogators had all the information they needed the game was at an end (they had been betting poker chips the boy brought with him).

Finally he asked his opponent, "What have you got?"

The man put down a five of hearts and all four fours; with a smirk he said "can you beat that kid?"

The boy rose with a smile and put down a ten of spades followed by the nine, eight and seven of the same. As he held up the last card he declared, "Thank you for being so informative, Ninja-san; straight flush."

With these words the boy left the room and a very confused and rapidly paling foreign spy. As a pair of ANBU strode past him into the room he turned to his teacher, "so how did I do sensei?"

The man smirked in response, "your questions were thinly veiled and your acting was a bit off. But for a first attempt I would call that a success… now you just have to refine your technique, cause if you weren't so damn cute he would have seen right through you."

-End-

The story had spread quickly in the department (they are experts in gather information after all) and he was soon being greeted by his Senpais (upperclassmen/ more experienced co-workers) as the jack of spades.

He had practically jumped on that particular nickname and begun cultivating a reputation (with a little help from his sensei and some ANBU he was particularly close to you) around the village and by extension around the world.

Already the name was being gossiped about in bars and spies were including it in their reports, the Sadist of the leaf had taken an apprentice.

-

**AU: just to clarify Naruto won't be overpowered… he will be weaker than a lot of the other characters but that doesn't mean much where ninja are concerned.**

**His main trait will be his ability to say just the right thing at the right time and analyze his opponent's emotions and thoughts based on slights movements (like Neji)**

**Pairings are already decided and the story will mostly follow the original set of events but from a different point of view… I will warn you that quite a few characters will be out of character.**

**Ex.**

**-Shikamaru will kick ass. (He is my favorite character and will be treated accordingly)**

**-Kakashi won't be quite so useless**

**-Jiraiya will behave in a more responsible way (but he is still a perv)**

**-Ino … no that would be telling**

**-Sasuke will be different… but that would be spoiling the surprise!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Jack Be Nimble**

**This has turned out to be more popular than I expected. But that's not necessarily a good thing.**

**My time is limited and I have a ton of stuff I should be doing right now but am just too sick an out of it at the moment to do anything, so I have decided to do a bit more writing to get the gears turning.**

**Disclaimer: this is a non-profit work and I don't own any sources.**

**Chapter summary: Naruto takes the Genin exams and is placed in a new kind of training to improve his manipulative skills. Other characters begin to appear.**

-

Naruto sat in the back of a classroom filled with academy students awaiting the Genin exams.

He used the opportunity to practice his observation skills. The boy down a seat to the right kept rotating his shoulder in a peculiar fashion; it was probably strained during training. His hands were also wrapped in bandages for protection and even when sitting down he had his feet planted solidly on the floor.

Another boy to his left this time and a few rows down had a stiff back and was appeared to be meditating, probably the top of the class. His confidence was almost a visible emanation to the degree that others glanced over at him at times as if to be assured that there was nothing to worry about.

A girl near the front kept combing her hair… a nervous trait, she wouldn't last long under stress.

A boy in a bright pink shirt was polishing a sword with a level of pride and confidence that even the Meditating boy at the front had some significant competition. Naruto made out a phrase written on his shirt: Only Real Men Wear Pink.

All together the class was not too strange for a group of trained ninja, still there were some who really stood out, like that one girl with the gigantic sword across her back… how could she even lift that thing? And what was the point? Ether she had a style of fighting that relied on doing a lot of damage in one hit (in another country a shirtless man sneezed through the bandages on his face) or she was a fool who was easily impressed by cool looking weapons.

Soon the instructors arrived and handed out a test… it took him as much time to answer the test as it took him to write down the words. He didn't know some of the information but he wouldn't be much of an interrogator if he couldn't cheat on a written test. (Especially since he had been taught the fine art of BS, to avoid enemy interrogation attempts)

The next test was shuriken throwing competition… over the course of the test he was able to confirm several things… that one girl with the tight shirt and tight buns in her hair was a damn good shot and the boy with the white eyes was definitely the best student in the class. Unfortunately the first boy he noticed really did have a strained shoulder and it messed up his aim… not that it stopped him from getting 9 out of ten bulls eyes… still he quietly commented to one of the instructors that the boy was working under a physical handicap. The instructor had marked the boy's success at a point higher due to handicap.

When Naruto's turn had come up finally he had chosen to use throwing needles instead of kunai, they were a good weapon for someone in his profession. He had proven that effectively by getting a perfect score and joined the fairly large number of others who had… it seemed that this class was full of very hard working rookies. Some were not so skilled but as a whole the class had a good level of martial prowess.

Soon the next portion came up and the students were expected to land a solid hit on an instructor to prove that they had a firm grasp of Taijutsu. Points were assigned based on how effective the strike was.

The fights provided him with an impressive amount of data; the boy in the pink shirt had a right to be proud, he was deadly with that sword and always seemed to know exactly what to say to annoy his opponents (at this rate he would be called into ANBU soon) the girl with the giant sword on the other hand was weak and had actually broke down and frozen when the sword was deflected and thrown out of her hands.

The rookie of the year struck again and placed a single finger poke on his tester within 10 seconds that had caused the man to start coughing uncontrollably for a few minutes due to his diaphragm being stimulated (it took far more skill to deal a non lethal strike like that than to kill a man) it was no surprise to the locals since the Hyuuga Protégée was known to be both a genius and a workaholic. The surprise was when the boy with the sore shoulder kicked the examiners butt (literally) so hard that he flew out of the arena. The instructors had been mildly surprised and very proud of his growth and had even said so to him.

Naruto had gotten called up soon after the sniper girl with the buns had practically turned her examiner into a pincushion (had the man not been a rock user he would have been badly hurt)

His match was an the longest one out of the whole group, nether he nor his examiner wanted to attack first so being who he was, Naruto had begun antagonizing the man by making insinuations about his manliness and courage… the man had finally broken down when his lack of marital status had been brought into play and had charged the boy with a pair of knives. To the enraged man's shock his opponent had shifted just enough to take a knife through the neck.

As the examiner stumbled back stuttering in shock as he stared at the knife still imbedded in his examinee he had suddenly felt a horrible pain in his lower back and collapsed to his knees screaming. The shocked crowd had watched as the seemingly dead boy had melted into mud and a new one was found behind the man having just stabbed an iron needle into a pressure point on the mans back and stimulated the nerve cluster into a state of pain overload.

The other examiners had marked high points for temporarily disabling the man efficiently and he had earned himself some appreciative nods from some of the other students. The white eyed genius had been particularly impressed and had actually taken an opportunity to speak to him.

"Your attack was impressive, to do that with a small weapon like that requires a lot of precision." The boy had stated calmly, "my name is Hyuuga Neji… of the branch house." He seemed fairly irritated by the later part.

"You're good," Naruto replied, "Juken strikes in that area are usually fatal or at the least severely damaging, you like to show off."

The boy stiffened, "what do you mean; I simply aimed to obtain a high score."

Naruto smirked, "you could have disabled his arm to get high marks, what you did was prove that you are a true master of Juken strikes. It's like shaving with a katana, a good way to intimidate someone or show someone up."

Without saying any more he walked towards the next test only to feel a hand grab his shoulder (he had expected no less) and was turned forcefully around.

"You have yet to tell me your name but I can tell you are more than you appear… and that is already plenty."

Naruto grinned widely, this guy was good. "Uzumaki Naruto, I'm privately apprenticed so I haven't been attending the academy."

"I can see why," Neji let go of his shoulder and fell into step beside him, "you have a keen eye, and I will admit I have a burning desire to prove my superiority to the clan head, my uncle."

Naruto nodded, he had heard about the cloud incident briefly during his education. "I take it you are the son of Hyuuga Hizashi then. Don't be so surprised, that incident is one of the sort of things my sensei specializes in."

The other boy nodded cautiously, "diplomacy?"

"You could call it that I suppose," The blond replied.

The two boys hurried towards the next exam without much talk, they were among the four best in the exam so far and ether wanted to lose that spot.

Soon the genjutsu section and ninjutsu section came around and they were top of the class (with Neji being just a little ahead), sadly Lee, the boy with the strained shoulder could not do ninjutsu or genjutsu so he managed to only a technical pass by escaping a blunted attack through pure speed instead of a replacement technique and broke out of a genjutsu by dislocating his finger. The instructors let him through because he was able to get by using his Physical training.

The pink shirted boy had remained as a high level contender and had proven to be a capable musician and used a guitar to make his genjutsu more effective. (to those who are familiar with the web comic: Dominic Deegan may recognize this guy as being based off of Donovan Deegan, he isn't a major character so far and will probably not appear again)

Naruto was not skilled in ether ninjutsu or genjutsu but he made do with mud clones and a body paralysis technique. The moves were taught to him by some of the older ninja he associated with, (the Hokage and Anko respectively).

After the test was over Neji had suggested the unlikely possibility of them ending up on a team together, but Naruto just shook his head. "Sensei wants me to spend more time with normal kids my age, so I'm going to infiltrate the next year's class. A good spy has to know how to blend in after all."

Neji had actually scowled at that, "your skills are wasted on that class. You should be doing some kind of active duty by now." He was clearly annoyed by the fact that the only one he actually respected in his graduating class (well the pink shirt guy was pretty cool too) was going to be part of a completely different group. "Perhaps we will get a chance to work together at a later time; it is a shame that we are fated to part ways for now."

Naruto grinned, "I have heard that fate is decided by three old women, and women are very hard for any man to understand." With that he left the other boy behind and strode to the roof where his sensei was waiting for him.

-

A few months passed and Ibiki had apparently agreed with Neji's assessment. While Naruto rarely did any homework for his class (actually never) he spent much of his time performing interrogations and solving puzzles under the watchful eye of his seniors.

He had experienced a lot of difficulties becoming part of the class, they seemed to be the complete opposite to the elder group and most spent their time boasting or trying to improve their image. It was to be expected from a class containing over a dozen clan heirs and the children of other politicians.

Some students on the other hand were absolute diamonds surrounded by a pile of coal; one such boy had actually seen through his behavior but had ended up declaring that it was too troublesome to bother telling any of them. Naruto had actually ended up using him as a stepping stone to join the group.

He had quickly moved from the overly serious and kind of suspicious guy to just Shikamaru's odd friend and after skipping class with some other boys he had improved his acting skills to seem just like any other average boy his age.

He befriended Aburame Shino to some degree… at least the boy seemed to respect him and even nodded to him once… or maybe he was just sleepy, it was really hard to read that guy!

Inuzuka Kiba on the other hand had instantly made a bad impression; he was loud, violent and thought that anything could be fixed by bashing it into the ground (as proven by his attempts to open a stuck thermos lid)

He couldn't stand being within ten meters of Hyuuga Hinata, she was just too depressing… the poor girl had strong depression and he wouldn't be surprised to hear that she had committed suicide. She was the exact opposite of her cousin, small, weak, not particularly driven and lacking in any self esteem at all.

There was one person who had actually approached him personally and he had immediately set off his internal alerts, Yamanaka Ino.

The girl was a walking bundle of lies; she had hair extensions that he hadn't noticed until one had gotten caught in a door and revealed her hair to actually be shorter than it looked by about a foot. Her eyes observed everything about everyone and yet she acted oblivious. Her hands were quick and precise and had the uncanny ability to perfectly copy anyone's handwriting.

It had taken him almost a month to figure out what she was up to. The results surprised him quite a bit; she was the daughter of Konoha's top spymaster, groomed from an early age to succeed her father. It was no surprise that she was interested in him and if anything it was likely that her observation skills were better than his.

Of course it came as no surprise to him when she had passed him a diner invitation.

-

Ino had always aimed to get closer to Sasuke only to note that he was actually repelled by her attempts. His strength was the best in the class and his intelligence and overall talent were superb, the fact that he was fairly handsome was a good bonus. She had also been trying to find out more about him but there was only so much one could find out by watching someone when they were interacting with others (she couldn't risk being caught spying on him in privet).

She had almost been tearing her hair out when the new boy had arrived. A cursory examination had identified him as a ninja. His silent walk, his sharp eyes and his fake smile (his acting skills are only marginally better than Sai) practically screamed that he was hiding something.

After a few weeks his smile grew more genuine and he began to fade into obscurity, which proved to her that he was trying to avoid notice. After some digging she had come up with little information. He was not popular among the villagers in general, he was an orphan but had been adopted several years ago by a prominent ninja whose name was classified (that suggested an important person) and he was very talented at the ninja arts but never did his homework and didn't really try in class. As she spent more time observing him one piece of information began to enter her analysis, he was cute.

Her attention was aimed at Sasuke for the sake of curiosity and to try to get some competition sparked between the girls… sure she liked him… or did she?

She had

She was certain that she had…

But that was almost a whole year ago! For a girl her age that was more than enough time for her attention to fade.

Now the blond boy grew more and more prominent in her mind and she actually found herself discreetly taking pictures of him using Shikamaru as an excuse. She suspected that he had noticed her odd behavior and for some reason that drew her even more strongly towards him.

Finally one day she decided to risk talking to her parents about the new crush she had developed… she had seen the way some adults looked upon the boy; a couple girls had actually gotten beaten by their parents when they found out they had crushes on him. (She had taken some sadistic pleasure in their pain)

So in a particularly timid manner she walked up to her father, "um, Daddy?"

"yes princess, has something happened?" the man always had a way of seeming more gentle and feminine than any man had business being… there was just something about his gestures… rumor had it that he once spent too much time impersonating an elderly lady to hide from enemies during the war.

"Do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?" this was obviously a rhetorical question (the man was the best spymaster in the entire village).

"What about him? I never put much effort into studying that particular child; his mother on the other hand was someone I knew fairly well." Basically this was her father's code that meant he knew more about the boy's background than his personal habits and such.

"What would you say to me getting a little… closer to him?" this was it…

"…" Inoichi froze, and then glanced at his daughter curiously, "what about that Uchiha boy?"

"I got over that phase a while ago." Daughter-speak for 'that guy got too boring a few weeks ago' as far as Inoichi was concerned.

The man actually grinned, "Naruto is the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the damn best interrogator I ever worked with, she could take a man apart with just a look." He began in the voice he used when assigning missions to junior spies. "He was adopted five years ago by Kushina's student and successor Morino Ibiki. I have heard rumors that he has inherited some of his mother's talent in that field."

What he had actually heard was a lot more than that but there were things his daughter would have to learn for herself and she new this.

"So you wouldn't mind?" her eyes lit up.

"I would of course like to meet the boy at some point, but based on family background I approve." With that the discussion ended.

Ino of course took the best path she new to her new target's heart… unfortunately preteen girls are just as incapable of conveying their feelings to boys as those same boys are of understanding girls. In other words she began to follow him around whenever she had the opportunity and ask him for various favors that she really didn't need.

Eventually after another two months of such behavior she gathered up the courage to invite him over for dinner… it was a bit difficult to say out loud so she gave him a note… and then ran away before he could respond. (That thought didn't manage to surface until she had already gotten home)

-

Despite Ino's blunder, Naruto accepted the invitation.

Unfortunately he didn't know where the girl lived… so of course he turned to the standard solution used by Preteen boys worldwide, **WWDD**: What Would Daddy Do? Since he didn't know his father (who would have probably checked every house in town until he found her) he altered this phrase to **WWID**: What Would Ibiki Do? The solution was simple.

One trip to the school record room later he had obtained the name of Ino's father.

Having tracked down a member of the Espionage and Counterespionage department he kidnapped the hapless ninja using precise aim and a set of throwing needles.

After the man had regained his awareness and found himself tied to a park bench, he greeted the man wearing his very own ANBU mask (he had gotten it as a present for his good work as an interrogator) and bluntly asked him, "Fuji Kotaro, assistant secretary of the Espionage and Counterespionage department, I require some important information from you. I need to know the address of your department head, Yamanaka Inoichi."

As any man in his line of work the man of course asked why he needed this information.

Naruto's response was to scratch the back of his head sheepishly and pull out Ino's note, "I was invited over for dinner but I don't know where it is."

Once the man had stopped laughing his head off at the reason, he directed the boy to the Yamanaka flower store and slid his hands out of the fairly simple restraints… they were a mere formality in the first place.

Naruto had quickly recorded the directions and run home to wash up and prepare, unconcerned that by this very time tomorrow his little adventure would be common knowledge within both departments, the village council and ANBU.

-

**AN:**

**I hadn't planned to do that with Neji nor did I intend to include a secondary character from a web comic… but I like the result.**

**In case people have not noticed yet, I am putting this into the suspense category because I plan to include a lot of mystery solving.**

**The pairing is quite obviously Naruto-Ino but it'll be slow and fully chaste. In other words no Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Grapefruits, or Watermelons**

**Also as a minor spoiler:**

**After the Chunin exams arch there will be an "elite team" set up to work on some less straight forward missions. This will include several characters that are not on his Genin team.**

**I ****MAY**** let my readers vote on who joins his team, (they won't be there on all missions but I will be sure to rotate them in for various missions.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Jack Be Quick**

**Why the hell am I doing this? I ever wanted to actually publish or even write this story! It's just another one or those half a dozen stories bouncing around the inside of my head.**

**If anyone is wondering why some chapters update twice it's because I go back and fix some of my mistakes.**

**Someone asked me to clarify why Naruto is in the same class as the rookie nine even though he didn't fail twice. So here it goes:**

All apprentice/student ninja are allowed to voluntarily take the graduation exam if they feel that they have a chance.

Naruto in canon took the exam twice even though he wasn't ready and when his class's turn came it was his third try.

In my story he passed 1 year earlier and then entered the academy class to get more practice behaving like any other boy his age. (it helps to be able to fit in)

**I hope this clarifies my theory for the exam conundrum.**

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Naruto or any other anime (I can't even draw in anime style)**

-

Naruto arrived at the Yamanaka shop just as the sky began to darken, a perfect time for dinner at this time of year.

After he knocked on the door he waited for a few minutes before the door was opened by a man with long blond hair and fairly formal clothing.

Now some might have panicked at the unexpected level of formality, but Naruto had once heard a very wise quote, "dress for the job you want, not the job you have" as such he had dressed in clothing suitable for the head of the interrogation department. Simple but traditional robes were adorned with spiral marks on the shoulders and upper back and the ace of spades was embroidered into the back of his traditional style shirt.

He greeted his host politely using his standard personality in favor of the immature childish one he had spent months learning.

He was given a brief tour of the shop and house and finally sat down around a small family dinner table.

There were four people around the table, Naruto, Ino, and both parents. Food consisted of mostly rice and fish, with few spices and mostly simple recipes. (Ino had been slightly embarrassed until Naruto had commented about how much better this was than his usual Rations… and how much better those were than Ibiki's cooking)

There was little talk around the table, most of it being questions about studying at the academy… the Yamanaka clan could easily distinguish that he was lying, but they made no comment in that regard. (Though both father and daughter were startled at how easily he was able to do so)

Finally Inoichi decided to break the ice, turning to his daughter he suddenly asked, "so what did you learn today?" now to most this may sound like a completely normal thing for a parent to ask their school age children, but among a family that made money by learning other people's secrets this statement had some very different meaning.

The girl looked panicked at her father but noting that he had no intention of changing his instructions she began, "well, old Mr. Yoshiro came by to buy his wife some flowers. He wants to take her mind of their daughter who was declared MIA a couple days ago."

"He told you this?" her father asked easily, while sending a discrete glance towards their guest.

"Not quite… I got the latter information from Sarutobi Asuma who came by later. He told me about Mr. Yoshiro's daughter in exchange for some help making a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend." She clarified.

"Well that's smart, he really managed to get lucky I suppose," Naruto declared all of a sudden.

At the girl's questioning look he continued, "Asuma-san would probably have asked for help anyway to hide his secret."

She looked around and noticed that both males new exactly what the secret was while she didn't, "what secret?"

"Well I probably shouldn't say… he gets really embarrassed about it even though it's not really all that personal." Naruto commented.

Inoichi however wouldn't let it drop, "I am a little surprised you know something like that, did Ibiki-san tell you?"

Naruto paused as if thinking what to say, "It's a standard test Sensei gives me once in a while, I'm supposed to find out a personal secret about one of the prominent ninja in town. He kind of stopped after I managed to present him with a picture of DOG without a mask."

Ino didn't get the significance, until that is she was told about Kakashi's habit of wearing multilayered masks.

"Wait, so you get tested like this too?" her startled cry came a little late. "I thought I was the only one!"

"Nah, I think most of the kids from clans get some kind of tests from their parents to make sure they are learning their skills properly." Naruto commented between bites, "It makes a lot of sense since every clan has its own specialties and the academy only teaches the basic foundation for ninja skills. That's why the tests are usually so simple; they take into account that ninja families each have their own kind of test. Of course children without clans end up being less well trained until they get a proper sensei to teach them a specialty of some kind."

"Oh," the girl had no idea what to say to that, "what about you did your family have a style?"

The young interrogator paused, "not really, my father is kind of a mystery to me, and my mom used clone techniques a lot but otherwise I don't think they had a proper family style."

"You don't know anything about your dad?" That one got her by surprise.

"the Old Man (it's like a title) says he was a really dangerous ninja and a lot of people would want to kill me if they knew I was related to him, but I do know that he was from one of the branches of the Senju clan… like a lot of the families of Konoha."

Inoichi nodded sagely, "he was a very dangerous man, when you are skilled enough to defend yourself against Jonin assassins or tight lipped enough to keep his identity secret I'm sure you will be told."

That left the diner table in silence for a while.

-

Meanwhile Ibiki was laughing his head off at the story he had just gotten from one of his drinking buddies. So that's where his apprentice had disappeared too!

One would think it strange that Konoha's top interrogator was drinking alcohol with friends; after all he is entrusted with more secrets than almost any other ninja. However when you take into account that the drinking buddies in question included 4 ANBU captains, the Hokage and two Village elders and they were all sitting around a very well furnished bunker under the Hokage tower it becomes much more understandable. After all, even important diplomats and investigators want to just relax sometimes.

-

After dinner the Yamanakas and Naruto had ended up sitting around the living room listening to Inoichi telling stories from when he was a Chunin during the war.

The stories ranged from short and hilarious anecdotes such as the time Shikaku Nara had fallen asleep while hanging upside down by his ankle, to extremely dramatic such as the time Inoichi's team had gotten trapped behind enemy lines for a month and had only survived because he used his family's techniques to control a reclusive elderly woman. His actions during that mission had gotten him an award from the Hokage and a promotion to Jonin.

After a couple hours had passed (and it was Ino's bed time) Inoichi had subtly signaled Naruto that it was about time to be going home. To his credit Naruto did manage to catch and correctly interpret the signal (when a spymaster is being subtle he might as well be invisible).

So after saying his goodbyes and accepting a small piece of pie to take back to Ibiki, Naruto was on his way home and Ino had collapsed into bed for some well deserved sleep.

Her dreams that night included Naruto but she would not remember most of them. (And as a male I have no idea what girls dream about)

-

The following three months went by quite blandly, Ino discovered Asuma's secret (by bribing Naruto with a picture of Anko in a dress) and Naruto had finally gotten Anko to stop picking on him (by blackmailing her with the afore mentioned picture).

Shikamaru had beaten Naruto at 79 games of Shogi and Naruto had successfully found out the secret to how Shikamaru was so good at the game (by threatening him with a really annoying alarm clock).

In case anyone is currently wondering what the two secrets were, here is the answer.

Asuma had always been color blind, and while this wasn't completely debilitating for a ninja who worked in the dark and couldn't distinguish colors anyway, he found it to be very embarrassing.

Shikamaru's dad was too lazy to teach him the skills of a strategist so he taught him to play Shogi instead… mostly because it involved strategy and he liked the game to begin with.

Naruto had successfully gotten the whole class to not notice him as being even a little bit different, and even the teachers were no longer suspicious of him. His records in the academy had been successfully stolen (by Ino, as a special test assigned by her father with support of Ibiki) and erased completely. His name was even taken off the class list.

The instructor, Iruka had been fairly surprised when he was informed by the Hokage that Naruto was already a Genin and was in the class for field practice. (Ironic isn't it)

The final graduation exam had finally come and some students looked around and suddenly noticed that Naruto was absent, but most had bigger things to worry about.

Ino had passed with flying colors and had proceeded to pass her father's personal test that consisted of passing the academy exam without showing her actual skills.

That night an unexpected event occurred. Mizuki, one of the academy teachers stole a valuable scroll containing a large number of techniques considered too dangerous or difficult to be commonly taught. The forbidden scroll was a valued treasure of Konoha and it's theft was a serious crime, Mizuki had tried to frame an unsuspecting student but the poor child had been a completely incompetent infiltrator and panicked when the sleep addled Hokage had stumbled into his office to get his book. The poor child had fled in the only direction he could find and had tripped over the balcony railing and plummeted to his death. Mizuki had at the last moment caught the falling scroll and let the boy smash into the ground, then he had fled into the forest leaving an infuriated Hokage to demand his head on a silver platter and send every active Chunin and higher ninja out to search. While Naruto was technically a Genin he was also an official member of ANBU and therefore joined in the hunt.

Surprisingly he had been the first to catch up to Mizuki that night and when Iruka had arrived, the scumbag had attempted to convince him that it was all Naruto's doing and that he was trying to prove his own innocence. Naruto had replied by answering that he was at a crowded restaurant with some of his friends and their families, including their fathers who were prominent war heroes and council members.

Mizuki had then attempted a new tactic and tried to reason with Naruto… that didn't go well.

He declared that there was a law that said that everyone but Naruto was to be told the law… after his grammatical error was pointed out he had amended to say that the law was that everyone but Naruto could be told a certain piece of information.

He had then declared that Naruto was the Kyuubi and had laughed manically while Iruka yelled about how it was illegal to say that… it was apparent that he didn't understand that his former friend had clearly betrayed the village and therefore didn't care about trivial laws like that.

Naruto had waited for his laughter to die down a bit and had finally spoken (he was fully aware that there was a team of ANBU in the shadows watching them) "the law in question is actually a bit more intricately phrased than that. It states, unless I am mistaken:

_Should anyone reveal the actual method used to defeat the nine tailed fox, he/she will be tried for treason against the village of Konoha. _

That is also combined with another law, one that is much more widely used:

_Any citizen of Konoha who is tried for treason will be interrogated by an officially licensed interrogator to determine their guilt (unless there is undeniable proof). Provided that their guilt has been confirmed they will be immediately executed by any official Konoha ninja._

Also it just so happens that I am a licensed Interrogator of Konoha (he pulled out a badge) as of approximately six months ago, I would like to thank you officially for co-operating with my investigation. It always saves a good deal of Paperwork when the subject confesses of their own free will." He declared in an official sounding voice, "Now on behalf of the village of Konoha I offer you the chance to absolve yourself of your dishonor by committing Seppuku."

After his speech was over Naruto noticed that both Chunin were currently staring at him with shocked expressions, mostly for additional effect and partially to hide his amusement at their expressions he drew his ANBU mask out from the inside of his shirt and put it on.

The mask was unusual for one particular reason; it didn't have an animal face. Instead it was adorned only by a pair of spades under the eyes that looked vaguely like tears. Other than these spades the mask was completely blank and white with a pair of small eye holes that actually allowed a far wider range of sight than what most would think from just seeing it.

Mizuki snapped out of his shock as the idea of what he had just been offered entered his mind and he scoffed. There was no way that some brat could arrest him, he was a Chunin and one of the best. He could easily get around Iruka and this brat and then he would flee to his safe house.

It was unfortunate for Mizuki that he failed to notice the full squad of ANBU that had arrived near the start of Naruto's speech. He never stood a chance.

After giving the ANBU members instructions to take Mizuki to the holding cells for tonight because Ibiki wouldn't be in the mood to interrogate him, he paid a brief visit to the Hokage's office where he found the man sitting in his pajamas with his white robe tossed on over top and his hat perched on his head. The elderly man accepted the scroll back and promised to clarify what was going on to Iruka, however he declined Naruto's offer to join him, Ibiki and the Ino-Shiki-Cho families at their party to celebrate Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji's graduation to Genin.

He also promised to pay for the interrogation duties that Naruto preformed even though he didn't assign him to do so.

-

The next day the council of Konoha was meeting with the Jonin instructors for the upcoming teams. They always met like this to finalize team arrangements.

It was the Hokage's duty to do so but the council and Instructors often offered their opinions and advice on the team arrangements.

The Hokage nodded, "alright that's the teams right now. So does anyone have any reasons to oppose them?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama" The Yamanaka clan head surprised many of those around him by making a suggestion. "I would like to recommend a slight change to team seven. I have noticed that we have yet another tracker team this year but what we don't have is an investigation team."

Many people perked up a bit at the interesting new suggestion.

"it often comes up that we don't have any teams designed to deal with field investigations and there are often problems with the slow rate at which investigations occur due to having to exchange letters with contacts within the village." He explained, "I suggest trading the Haruno girl out for my daughter, she is well trained to infiltrate and investigate enemy positions and combined with Uzumaki Naruto's skills at interrogation and Uchiha Sasuke's sharp eyes and Bloodline abilities they would fit the criteria well."

The Hokage nodded thoughtfully, "your opinion Kakashi?"

"I agree, this gives me a good foundation to start from anyway. If I get the Haruno girl I wouldn't know what to teach her, she has no actual skills save for her grasp of the basics. This way I know what their focus is to begin with and can focus on improving their abilities in that direction." Hatake Kakashi was known to only speak in such a verbose manner when talking to a superior (but as a former ANBU commander he didn't have a lot of those).

"Alright that is decided then, team seven under Hatake Kakashi will be an investigation team consisting of Uzumaki Naruto, Yamanaka Ino and Uchiha Sasuke. Now for Haruno Sakura, would she fit on team 10?"

"No." Asuma startled a lot of people with the blunt statement, "I would actually like to make a suggestion as well; if I don't have Yamanaka Ino on my team I would request Hyuuga Hinata instead."

That got a lot of confused looks; it was fairly well known that the two girls were polar opposites.

"My reason for this is that Hinata is known for being quiet, shy, and antisocial. She never tries to take any kind of leadership role and never tries to speak her mind to others. This is a problem considering her position. I believe that being on a team with someone as loud and forceful as Inuzuka Kiba would only stunt her growth as she would let him do all the talking and decision making, however with known slackers like Shikamaru and Choji, no offence, she would be forced to rise up and take a leadership position for the sake of accomplishing anything at all."

The leaders of the three clans who were mentioned nodded their agreement.

"If you believe you can make Hinata into a stronger and more reliable person I will place her education in your hands." The Hyuuga clan head was never one for small talk.

Kurenai Agreed to take Sakura as a student due to her impressive chakra control and the teams were finalized, the next day would bring these assignments into effect.

-

**AN:**

**I have decided to end there for this chapter, I have made the assumption that the reason I am having so much trouble continuing True Jinchuriki is because I have been trying to write 4,000 word plus chapters each time. So I will probably use shorter chapters for this story but try to update more often.**

**Next chapter will include the bell test, the appearance of Sasuke complete with my new take on him and probably the start of the first actually difficult mission, I promise you that there will be mishaps and emotional trauma.**

**Just in case you are wondering, Sasuke isn't gay in this.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Four of a kind**

**I decided to start another one. Don't ask me why, I don't know. Just accept that you are getting another chapter of Jack of Spades.**

**In case anyone is wondering… if one were to judge based on how deadly Naruto is overall… he is pretty similar to Neji. He is not as strong in terms of combat and doesn't have a cool bloodline but he is really good with throwing needles and his knowledge of human anatomy… well he learned that from Anko, 'nough said.**

**Disclaimer: the severe lack of physical comedy should act as a tip off that I don't own Naruto**

**I have considered using some of my OC characters to make a skit for the start of my chapters but I decided that it would be completely pointless and lame**

-

Several days had already passed since G day and the subsequent arrest of Mizuki. A small funeral reception was arranged for the boy who he had tricked but it was a civilian funeral and very few people even noticed it happen. He had not been a very well known boy and few people really remembered him but they were sad all the same. Mizuki had been tried and found guilty of two counts of treason, one account of murder and one account of corrupting the young… and that was just for that one day.

A more thorough interrogation found over a dozen accounts of abusing authority and corrupting children, three accounts of murder and one account of spying… that record was enough to get him executed six times and imprisoned for life four times (not to mention fines).

The more bureaucratic members of Konoha's ruling council had been quite irritated that he could not be properly punished for all of his crimes but settled for a simple execution.

Kakashi was currently on the way to meet with his new team. He had never been assigned a specialized team like this and it was a great honor to be entrusted with something so important. A team of specialists would be getting missions that were harder and therefore more dangerous. As he strode towards the school he noticed a black cat walking across the road in front of him. So without a second thought he turned and went in another direction.

His new course brought him to a particularly busy street where he noticed an old woman trying to carry some heavy grocery bags. In a gentlemanly fashion he strode over and offered her some help, considering his distinctive appearance and attitude he was fairly well known around the village and she accepted his offer for help.

The elderly lady's house was in the opposite direction from the academy but he paid it no mind as he carried the bags all the way to her front door. From there he waved off her offer of recently baked cookies and strode off towards his original objective… unfortunately he came across a dog with an injured paw and had to take it to the vet… on the other end of town.

To make a long story short, it took Kakashi almost five hours to reach the academy and once there he realized that he forgot the classroom number and had to check all the rooms.

- Meanwhile –

Uchiha Sasuke had gotten out of bed this morning and done a quick work out routine; he then showered and offered a prayer for his family in the afterlife. He ate a modest breakfast that he made himself and gathered his ninja tools. With his morning routine completed he left for the academy.

Upon noticing the standard crowd of fan girls rushing in his direction he quickly stepped into a dark alley and climbed up a drainage pipe. From there he hopped onto another building and climbed down another pipe to enter a different street. While some ninja ran over roof tops to get everywhere, they were more able to stay stable and use chakra to assist their jumps and landings so that they wouldn't fall… hopefully he could learn that soon.

He joined a crowd and let his attention wonder over the various gossip that was floating around. By the time he arrived at the academy he was thoroughly up to date on recent events and was fully aware of the recent capture and execution of his former instructor. He didn't feel any remorse for the man though he had been his teacher, traitors like that didn't deserve any remorse.

He was not surprised to notice the usual group of people gathered around the only table in the entire school yard, it seemed that Shikamaru was beating Naruto at Shogi again. There was Choji to the side eating chips while observing the match with interest. Ino was cheering Naruto on; Sasuke had been quite relieved when her interest in him faded a few months ago. Hyuuga Hinata was in a shadowy corner near the entrance to the school, trying to avoid notice so she wouldn't have to socialize. It was sad to see her hiding like that, the poor girl was afraid of people in general.

The bell soon rang and as far as he was concerned it was none too soon. The fan girls were approaching.

It was a good thing, he noted, that few of his fan girls had the skills to graduate.

-

Iruka had given out assignments and told everyone that the Jonin instructors would be there after lunch, some had come early and taken their new students with them. After some hours team seven was all that remained.

They waited for three hours and still no sign of their teacher… Naruto had drawn out a deck of cards and challenged both of his new teammates to a game of poker.

When Hatake Kakashi had stuck his head into the classroom two more hours later he was greeted to the sight of Sasuke sitting on the floor wearing only his pants and forehead protector while Ino gave Naruto her shoes.

He stared at the group blankly, "did I interrupt something?"

"Hey there DOG, you're just in time to see me finish these two off." Naruto's comment was punctuated with him putting down the shoes and picking up a deck of cards. "Would you like to join?"

Kakashi stared at the cards, then at the other two. Sasuke was barely decent and Ino still seemed to have most of her clothing on but the pile of stuff beside Naruto showed that she had been effectively disarmed. The blond boy was smiling at him in a predatory fashion and judging by the slight twitch of his eyes towards his female teammate showed that he really wanted to continue the game. (No he isn't a pervert, all preteen boys are curious about girls; it has nothing to do with sex)

Kakashi smirked, "while I realize how much you want to see Ino-chan Naked it's not the time for that. We have a team meeting to get too. I'll meet you on the roof."

A few minutes later he was greeted with the sight of his three students coming up the stairs (fully dressed now)

He quickly closed his book and directed them to introduce themselves. He was expecting one of them to ask him to introduce himself first but no one did.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto; I enjoy learning new things, ramen and talkative people. I dislike people who use others for their own gain and being bored, I don't think about dreams instead I have a goal, to perfect my technique and surpass all those who came before me."

"My name if Yamanaka Ino, I like arranging flowers and watching the way people interact with each other, especially couples, they are so lucky…" she drifted off for a few moments before continuing. "I dislike it when I can't solve a puzzle and fighting, my goal is to become a spymaster."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't have a lot of things I like (his eye seemed to stray in a random direction) and I dislike a lot of things. My ambition is to rebuild my clan and kill a certain man." Kakashi may have been imagining things but it seemed like he had almost said that he disliked a lot of _People_.

"Well then I guess I will go last, my name is Hatake Kakashi and…" he was cut off by a smirking Naruto.

"Hatake Kakashi, son of Hatake Sakumo and the last of the Hatake family; likes soft core porn and dogs. Dislikes include onions and people who betray others, dreams of someday dying an honorable death in battle and meeting his dead family and friends in the afterlife with his head held high." Naruto recited as if from a textbook, and then added, "Also likes to confuse people by being mysterious. Also in the academy he was nicknamed Bishonen no Kakashi." (1)

Kakashi stiffened, that wasn't very commonly known. He could now understand what Ibiki meant by his earlier comment.

- Flashback

"Yamanaka- Sama, Ibiki-san would you mind waiting a moment, I would like to know your opinion of this team's current effectiveness at this stage."

The two men exchanged glances, and Inoichi commented "Ino has a lot of skill in objective observation; however she is still very shallow. I expect that the depth of her observations will increase with experience."

"Naruto is his mother's son." Ibiki's comment was short and concise, "his ability to read people is far beyond most Genin and his data gathering skills are impressive."

"I have heard that he got a license, his interrogation skills must be quite effective." Kakashi quickly prompted.

"He can be very persuasive; all that is left is for him to get some more practice."

- End –

He turned towards the boy and asked, "How the hell did you know that?"

"I did some… research on you a few months ago. Ibiki sensei always says that a good interrogator must know as much about his allies as his enemies."

The elder ninja nodded and declared that they would be having a test the next day to determine whether they were ready to be a proper Genin team. As he was leaving he said, "You shouldn't eat breakfast or you might throw up."

He was halted in his retreat however by one of his students responding, "You're lying." Naruto said this with absolute certainty, there was no doubt in his mind that he was correct.

Kakashi turned back towards them and smiled, "maybe I am or maybe I'm not. Feel free to believe me or not believe me at your own peril."

As the cycloptic Jonin left he heard Naruto comment again, "he is lying, I am sure of it. It's some kind of trick."

-

Kakashi was certain now that Ibiki wasn't joking; the boy was good at reading people. He arrived at the training ground at close to the same time as him and joined his teammates who were sleeping with their backs against a large tree. (They were on perpendicular sides of the tree)

Kakashi had again found that he was easily distracted on the way to the team meeting and had ended up beating Gai at a game of checkers to placate the man's obsessive competitiveness. Gai had proceeded to climb the cliff behind Konoha using only a pair of chopsticks… it was an impressive feet.

He had then posed for a ninja calendar and then sampled Ichiraku's new recipe. Afterwards he had bumped into Asuma at a newspaper stand and spent ten minutes talking about the man's new team… he pitied the man but he had asked for it. Choji and Shikamaru were a well oiled machine (maybe it had to do with all the greasy chips) but Hinata was too depressed and antisocial to try and join in. the poor girl had offered to fail the exam for the sake of the other two because she felt that she wasn't worth breaking up their team over… the other two had shown surprising maturity for their age by declaring that they wouldn't let her sacrifice herself for the rest of the team (actually Shikamaru's words were closer to: its too troublesome to feel guilty, I wouldn't be able to relax at all if I let you do this)

Anyways Asuma was stuck with one of the most dysfunctional teams to ever exist. Kurenai was a little better off because Shino and Kiba were prime examples of their clans and worked together almost as well as Shikamaru and Choji. Unfortunately Sakura was immature, loudmouthed and convinced beyond all doubt that Sasuke was a god among men and all other boys were jealous.

So heading towards his team's meeting place Kakashi decided that if his team worked better than those other two he would buy them all lunch. (In his apartment Iruka suddenly began to laugh)

-

Naruto had realized quickly that his teacher would be late by approximately three hours so he decided to get some things done while he waited. Unfortunately he got roped into doing an interrogation because everyone above him was Unavailable and as the lowest ranked interrogator in Konoha there wasn't anyone bellow him who could do the job. So with the help of some Chunin students in the department he led the interrogation and determined that the man was in fact a drug dealer.

He then met with Neji as he was walking towards the training grounds. The older boy was leaning against a wall as he watched a man in green slowly climb up the cliff. Upon noticing Naruto he had brightened up slightly (so slightly that Naruto almost missed it) and greeted him, "so we meet again Naruto-san."

Naruto's response was to ask about Neji's first year of being a Genin. They exchange stories about various events of the past year. Naruto was particularly amused by Neji's stories about his Sensei's extreme competitiveness and how he had passed it on to Lee.

Neji actually had a surprising level of respect for the odd boy and couldn't help wonder what fate had in store for him. As he put it at one point, if Lee had been fated to fail and not be a ninja, he would never have made it this far. However he would never admit it to his face and would often insult and put him down.

After talking for an hour the two boys parted ways with a promise to meet again some time. Naruto had then visited the Hokage and spent another half hour discussing the various eccentricies of the village's Jonin. The standing theory that they used their strange behavior to take their minds off the terrible things they had witnessed and done.

Soon he was at the training field staring at the sleeping forms of his teammates.

He had of course woken them up in a fairly subtle manner; by poking them with a stick.

-

Kakashi's test was an odd one. He had given a pair of bells to an unidentified Chunin and told him to hide them. He had then cautioned him that the bells were sought by someone and he should not tell anyone about them. Then he had told his team abut this and told them to get a bell each before midnight and get it to him, anyone who didn't get one would fail.

This was designed to test both information gathering skills and teamwork.

It was unlikely that the Genin would actually find the bells; the test was to work together as an effective team. And just in case they did actually find the correct Chunin and get the bells from him, then they were probably ready for C rank missions already.

As expected Sasuke ran off towards the village with a determined look on his face… he would probably ask everyone in a Chunin vest about the bells.

Ino scratched her head and walked after the boy.

And Naruto… well he was grinning at Kakashi in a predatory manner. "This test is a total farce. You know perfectly well that assignment is nearly impossible for them."

"But not for you?"

"Sure, I would just transform into you and wander around the village complaining that someone stole the bells I was going to use for my test."

Kakashi stared at the boy, in a village like Konoha that might actually work, just further proof that the kid knew psychology like the back of his hand. It was completely plausible that someone had stolen his bells and tricked some Chunin into hiding them as a prank… it had happened before actually.

"So why aren't you doing that right now?" he just couldn't help asking.

"I wanted to talk, why did you take this team? I thought you didn't trust yourself to look after Genin?"

"I promised your parents that I would look after you if they died… and they did."

"You've been watching over me since before I can even remember; even if you couldn't really stay close to me in the interrogation department. Really though, what do you plan to do if this team fails?"

"That's simple; I'll go back to Anbu and take a new partner. I've heard about a talented new field interrogator who could make a good apprentice." He smirked under his mask.

"In other words you'll train me even if this team fails… that's kind of unfair." Despite saying this he was smirking in an amused fashion. "Well I had better go see how the other two are doing, they aren't quite as good at reading people as I am after all."

With that he was off.

-

Two hours later Kakashi was eating lunch at a small tea house near his apartment when his team walked in, dragging the Chunin he had set up and the bells.

Kotetsu was draped over Sasuke's shoulder, (who looked a bit winded from carrying the larger and heavier ninja) and both Ino and Naruto had bells dangling from their hands.

Kakashi took another sip of his tea and waved them over, "I see you found my stooge. How did you figure out who it was?"

The trio just smirked and began to explain their method.

Naruto had caught up to Sasuke at a park looking for Chunin. Ino had been located after another ten minutes at her family's flower shop talking to her father about Kakashi's usual habits.

After uniting the group and laying down Kakashi's basic behavioral patterns, Naruto had gotten Ino to transform into Kakashi and walk around the village.

Naruto and Sasuke had followed her and observed the people who she talked to and how they reacted.

They had used the story that someone (probably Anko) had stolen Kakashi's bells leading him to run a different Genin test. The test consisted of pulling a prank on Anko while keeping him informed of their plans and progress using standard earpieces. This allowed Naruto to give her advice on how to respond to various questions and comments.

The situation was nearly ruined when Gai had tried to challenge her to a race around the village, luckily Ino used her training to the fullest and had convinced Gai that she had a to keep focused and couldn't do that so they would have a trivia competition on who could name more famous ninja in two days time.

Naruto had suddenly identified that Kotetsu (who had been walking by at this point) looked up in a surprised manner when he heard about the different test.

Sasuke had then tailed the Chunin while allowing him to notice him a couple of times. Once he had been lead to a quiet spot in the village where Kotetsu planned to make a stand he had launched an all out attack while Naruto had snuck in behind him and caught him off guard with some basic disabling techniques (the confusion he felt at being attacked by Genin really helped)

Then it had been only a matter of time before Naruto's eloquence tricked him into revealing that the bells were in his refrigerator. Then after thanking him for his assistance and hitting a pressure point on his neck Naruto had stolen his house keys and headed up to the unfortunate man's apartment.

Then it had been simple to meet up with Ino and go looking for Kakashi.

Over all Kakashi couldn't help but be proud of his team. They had actually succeeded, it was a test designed to be extremely difficult to pass but they had done it. Sasuke hadn't done much but that was to be expected, this wasn't something he had been trained for after all.

After waking the thoroughly embarrassed Chunin and returning his house keys the newly formed team 7 left him sitting on the floor of a tea house near Kakashi's apartment. They had split up soon after and Kakashi reported the success of his team to the Hokage… who promptly begun laughing at his hapless assistant and didn't stop until the Chunin exams.

-

Of course Kakashi had gone home and created a new training regiment for his team, for now it was fairly vague.

Naruto: combat training, technique training.

Ino: combat training, physical training

Sasuke: combat training, strategy training, tracker training

It was clear that Sasuke was sorely lacking in specialty, however it was also clear that he was an almost perfect candidate to be a Hunter ninja. He would need to be taught how to track targets, how to construct a plan of attack and how to disable targets quickly and efficiently.

Naruto was already a capable interrogator and only experience was needed to make him more effective. However his fighting style was based primarily about hitting his enemy by surprise and finishing the fight with one hit, despite the effectiveness of this style up till now it wouldn't be enough in a real fight.

Ino was fairly well balanced in skills but her greatest strengths were her acting skills and her observation skills, her combat ability was nearly non existent. She was trained to focus on deception and her family's techniques in a fight and this left her open to frontal attacks.

Together this team had a lot of potential, Ino would gather information about targets and give it to Sasuke who would capture them and give them to Naruto, who would then extract more information from them. All Kakashi had to do was give them the skills and experience to make this possible.

-

**AN: well that's this chapter.**

**I don't have much to say but if someone can guess the pairing I have in mind for Sasuke… I will let them design an NPC which I will insert at some point (the level to which I insert them will be based on how much I like the character)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I Raise You Four!**

**So here is another chapter… I still don't know why I find this idea so fascinating, why I can't stop thinking about it.**

**Disclaimer: I am not a crook… and I don't own Naruto… if I did it would have been renamed, Shikamaru and focused on the exploits of the lazy genius.**

-

The sun rose over fire country, bathing the deep forests with a brilliant light.

As he walked to the team meeting place he had arranged, Kakashi paused to look at the window of the near by book store. The new Icha-Icha was on sale starting today and he would not fail to get it.

A few hours later he arrived at his destination, having gotten lost in his book and forgot about the meeting completely… it was a good idea to pay as little attention to the real world as possible; it was less painful that way.

He arrived at the training grounds to find Ino poking something with a stick while Sasuke practiced katas to the side.

(AN: if you are not familiar with what Katas are ask a martial artist or look it up on the internet)

After he had moved a little closer he identified the object being poked as Naruto, he had dark circles under his eyes and was very pale. His clothing was rumpled and there were flecks of blood on his shirt. As Kakashi approached he opened an eye, glanced over at him and then groaned.

"He just got here a couple minutes ago Sensei, he hasn't moved since." Ino commented in a worried voice.

"I hate people who don't talk… took me all night to get the guy's employer… damn bastard…" the blond boy muttered from the ground.

Sasuke paused in his training, Ino blinked owlishly and Kakashi just nodded. All three could once more hear the boy's introduction: "I like learning new things, ramen and talkative people"

Somehow this statement was brought into a new light by his words, out of the group only Kakashi had realized what their teammate had meant by Talkative People.

"Didn't get much sleep I take it?" Kakashi behaved as relaxed as ever, "well that's a shame but we do have some training ahead. I can give you another hour to rest up but that's it, understand?"

The boy didn't respond; he simply rolled over, sleeping soundly.

"Well, since Naruto is incapacitated, I will begin today's training with a subject that he already excels at, anatomy." Kakashi declared; drawing a set of charts and diagrams from the pack he had been carrying over his shoulder.

-

An hour later Kakashi finally stopped and looked over his two students. They were red and frightened looking but it was to be expected. He had just gone over all major organs, pressure points and nerve clusters for both males and females… he had also decided to go a step further and cover "the talk" while he was at it. So to finish off, the declared: "Now, for homework I want an essay on how knowledge of anatomy can be useful to a ninja. Now let's wake up Naruto."

It didn't take as long as they thought to wake the sleep deprived blond, in fact as soon as they came within a meter he jumped up and shot up the nearest tree. After he had fully woken up, which took a couple minutes he realized that he wasn't about to be attacked. Afterwards he had hopped down from the tree and the combat training began.

It was clear that while Naruto could easily beat either of his teammates in a fight, this was largely due to experience and his ability to figure out their next movements accurately. In fact his predictions were so accurate that Kakashi had to stop himself from checking if he had the Sharingan.

Despite this skill, Sasuke proved his right to the title of genius as he begun to compensate for Naruto's style after only a few seconds. He still couldn't win but the fight got more and more even as it progressed. Ino didn't stand a chance against either of the boys but her performance at faking a broken wrist had everyone save for Naruto wrapped around her little finger. He quickly saw through it and she was forced to abandon that tactic. Her plan to launch a surprise attack wasn't a bad one but such tactics only work in some situations, and using them against an interrogator doesn't work well (as she quickly learned).

Overall Kakashi was pleased; he had a good foundation to work from. Ino had proven to be capable of tactical combat. Sasuke was a genius and would improve even more swiftly when he got his Sharingan. Naruto was unbelievable, he had only the most basic combat training but he had adapted it with his other training to make himself into a walking nightmare.

Each had limitations, despite their clever approach to combat both Naruto and Ino was lacking in physical conditioning and couldn't fully take advantage of the openings they created. Sasuke had decent skills in combat but he relied too much on brute force, and he really didn't have enough pure power and size to use it against an older ninja.

The training would go on for several more hours and would be repeated everyday for the next few weeks.

-

Naruto had continued his work as an interrogator along with his training but his quota got reduced to one or two victims a day. There were always a lot of people to interrogate in a ninja village and he hated dumping his work load on someone else but everyone said it was worth it.

A field interrogator would provide a benefit that outweighed the temporary boost in work load.

Ino had also had a boost in her training with her father, infiltrating local businesses to water the plants in the middle of the night was a completely useless and overly complicated procedure, since the security got a little bit better every day.

Sasuke was probably given the most intense training though as Kakashi would meet him after dinner to train him in tracking and disabling targets. He drilled the rules of the hunter ninja into the Uchiha's mind. Precision was given a higher level of importance than ever before in combat and agility was given a new meaning.

Kakashi never mentioned it to his team but he had called up some of his old friends and contacts to step up his own training and get back into shape. The old knife he had gotten from his father was cleaned up and sharpened, the armored mesh he wore under his shirt was examined and repaired, and his masks were treated in special antitoxins to protect him from air borne poisons. He had even gone so far as to find an old chain reinforced scarf to protect his neck. He suspected that some of his students had noticed something but never commented on it.

Finally, after almost three months it was time to take a mission.

"Welcome team seven, your Sensei has deemed you ready to begin work. As specialists you will be working in much more dangerous missions than your former classmates, so here it is; B Rank mission infiltrate and identify the leader of a crime syndicate in Umiho town. (Sea-fire town) the specifics are in this scroll, should you accept it." Iruka winced at the level of the mission, to send rookies on such a mission was pure suicide, but there would be no arguing against the Hokage, mission number 1 was on.

-

**AN:**

**That's another chapter done. The next one will be the mission.**

**I actually have only a basic set of events planned so it may take a few days to actually figure out how to connect them.**

**Also to all those who asked, what an NPC is it's that guy in a computer game who stands there all day and asks you to go find him five rat tails for his soup. I meant to say OC originally.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The ****Prince of Clubs**

**Note: I wanted to quickly identify some minor changes in this story compared to the original story.**

**Naruto isn't a tank who spasms red shirts, and he doesn't wear lots of orange****... he may wear some.**

**Ino is smart… get used to it; she will only continue to get smarter as time goes on.**

**Hinata is clinically depressed and borderline suicidal… she believes that everyone would be better off with her dead.**

**Kakashi is taking this seriously.**

**Disclaimer: this story is a fan fiction… I thought it was fairly obvious.**

**-**

The team met at the front gate of the village at exactly eight o'clock the next day. Supplies had been gathered and equipment prepared; now the mission could begin.

Surprisingly it was only Naruto who chose a new outfit. His blond hair was covered by a dark blue bandana. He had chosen a set of clothes that were reminiscent of ANBU, tight sleeveless shirt made of spandex and dulled metal plates to guard his shoulders, a pair of form fitting but non-restrictive pants with many pockets and a pouch to carry basic tools and supplies. He wore the same sandals as the rest of his team but had chosen some fingerless gloves with metal plates and matching metal bracers. His look was completed by the pale mask hanging from his belt. It was a startling change.

Kakashi's new scarf was wrapped around his neck and he had strapped his old tantou (dagger/knife) to the back of his belt.

The group set out, each carrying a small pack of supplies for fast and easy travel. Sheets of waterproof cloth and various gadgets for espionage filled the packs along with dry rations and water purifying tablets.

Tents were a luxury that spies could not afford so shelters would be constructed on site from whatever materials were abundant.

-

Upon arriving at their destination, the group quickly located a well hidden spot with good visibility and set up camp. The giant trees of Fire Country were perfect for setting up tree forts and a camouflaged platform was set as a base of operations.

After resting in shifts so that everyone was well rested the team assigned tasks. Ino and Sasuke were the stealthiest save for Kakashi and would work in tandem to investigate the crime syndicate's location. Kakashi would be acting as backup and attempting to locate a more secure base of operations and Naruto would be left to set up shop.

-

It was on the second day at their destination that an unconscious man was dragged into the camp.

The man wore ragged clothing that was covered in grime and had a number if scars on his face and hands. His brown hair was thinning and greasy and he stunk of alcohol.

"You are certain of his affiliations?" the question was directed towards the duo who brought him, both nodded in response.

"Good, leave." Both starred at their team-mate in surprise. "What I'm about to do… you guys aren't ready to see yet." With that the blond interrogator turned away from his team.

All arguments were halted by Kakashi's timely arrival. "He's right; you are not yet ready to see something like this… maybe when you have some more experience."

Even as they walked back towards the town, the young Genin could hear the screams that echoed through the forest.

-

"You did WHAT!" the cry almost alerted enemies of their location… from almost a mile away. The blond boy was currently lifting his male team-mate up by his collar.

"I noted commotion in a nearby hallway and went to investigate… she," he never got to finish.

"You left her alone, you fool! You are the best fighter on this team and you left your partner alone in enemy territory! She was your responsibility! And now look at what happened!" Naruto tossed him back to the floor of their new headquarters.

Kakashi had found a small abandoned shed a couple days ago that was probably once used for some kind of small business. It had two rooms, a main room and a small office. The two boys were currently in the office; Kakashi had left as soon as he found out what happened.

"Look, it's not that big a deal. We can still accomplish the mission even if…" again he was cut off.

"Even if what, she dies? Do you have any idea what they might do to her?" the boy was livid. "You let a team-mate get captured by criminals Fool! She could be tortured, killed or worse!"

"Worse? You are being Overdramatic."

"Have you bin imagining what would happen if it were you? Well stop it, Ino isn't you! For one thing, she's a girl Teme! Do you have any idea what that means, if a ninja is captured they have to worry about being interrogated or killed, if a Kunoichi is Captured… they have quite a few more things to worry about, it wouldn't be so bad if they were ninja or samurai, but these a criminals."

Realization took a few seconds to dawn on the Uchiha. "t-they wouldn't, she's just…"

"What, only Twelve? They would have to be the worst kind of scum to do that…" he declared with some sarcasm, "oh wait, they are!"

For the first time since the death of his family Sasuke felt terror grip his heart. His team mate was in one of the worst situations imaginable and it was entirely his fault, if only he hadn't gone to investigate on his own. If only he had been there to protect her, this might not have happened.

The terror quickly turned to guilt and then despair, he had screwed up royally. Even now she could be… no, he couldn't bring himself to think about it… but he couldn't stop himself ether. He barely noticed when Kakashi had dropped by without a word and handed Naruto something… he didn't notice the sky turn dark again; all he could hear was the voices of his team mates screaming at him, "It's your fault!"

It wasn't until almost two hours later that he moved. Rising from the cramped spot in the corner of the room he rose and wobbled unsteadily towards the door. His face was obscured by his hair and his posture was that of a dead man walking.

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto's voice cut through the fog of his mind.

"I'm going to save her." His voice had a hardened quality to it.

"are you now, well good luck… you'll need it considering you don't have any idea where she is or what condition she is in. you don't even know how many guards they have or how they are organized… come to think of it you don't even have a floor plan of the building." The amused, patronizing tone grated at his nerves.

"WELL WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO? IT'S BETTER THAN SITTING AROUND HERE DOING NOTHING!" he rounded on his team-mate who simply waved him off and returned to whatever he had spent the two hours working on. He couldn't take it, he preferred when the other boy was accusing him. "What the hell is so interesting that you've spent two hours on it when our team mate is in danger!" he attempted to yank the paper away but was stopped. "Are you just going to sit there or are you going to help me get her back!"

A moment later the blond finished writing something and wordlessly handed him the page. Sasuke froze in place.

"It's just a good thing Sensei found those blue prints. I don't know what we would do without them." The blond declared, and then he grinned. "Well come on, we have a girl to save."

Sasuke looked up from the surprisingly detailed floor plan of the building with dozens of potential entrances marked as well as Ino's most likely locations. A series of strategic notes filled the margins. He stared blankly at the other boy who was currently walking towards the door.

As he reached it Naruto suddenly called back to him, "by the way, I think you should look in the mirror before we leave."

As he turned to the cracked mirror that hung from the stained wall of the old abandoned office Sasuke smiled. A pair of crimson eyes stared out from under his messy bangs. (1)

-

Ino struggled harder against her bonds; she could hear the drunken leers of the men outside the room. They had tied her up securely to make sure she didn't escape and left her there for who knows how long. It seemed that there was allot of work to do in this place, so hey couldn't do anything to her until their work was done for the day. The relief didn't last long since her situation was no less dire.

She and Sasuke had been scouting out the first floor of the building when the boy had heard some kind of commotion and wandered off in that direction to investigate, she had been too focused on writing up a floor plan of what they had already seen that she didn't notice his absence. No sooner had he rounded a corner she had been spotted and attacked by a squad of patrolling guards. Now she was tied up in some room somewhere waiting to be raped by a bunch of creepy, disgusting pedophiles. For the thousandth time she cursed her weakness only to hear the voices on the other side of the door getting closer, it looked as though break time had come.

She struggled harder in a last attempt to escape but the bonds held tightly. The men were approaching and she could see some swaying back and forth in a drunken stupor. The last thing she saw before squeezing her eyes shut was the nearest one reaching for his belt.

-

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi dashed silently through the thick pelting rain. Their dark cloaks were soaked with rain but still rippled behind them, making their figures appear blurred like ghosts. Upon reaching the wall of the building they didn't slow but dashed silently up the wall. At the third floor a window was quickly picked and the figured dived in with inhuman agility.

Two guards entered the narrow hallway just in time for one to receive a knife between the ribs and the other to be grabbed, gagged and pinned against the wall. Even as he watched his partner get silently dragged out the window by the tallest of his captors, the remaining man's attention was drawn towards the man holding him. He wasn't tall, in fact he was barely three feet in height however his eyes were absolutely terrifying… perhaps it was because they were glowing. Eerie crimson light shone from the eye holes of the ninja's mask and as the poor unfortunate man looked into that light he found himself watching himself dying a thousand times, each more gruesome than the last.

"You captured a Kunoichi earlier today, where is she?" the ice in the ninja's voice cut through the man's fear addled brain like lightning. He sounded so young, but so evil, as though he was a demon in human form… it was unnerving. "I said, where. Is. She?" his voice grew even colder as with a sickening crunch he snapped his victim's left index finger.

"S-s-s-s-s-s-stop! I-I-I-I Do-don't Know!" he screamed and tried to escape but the hands that held him were like manacles of the hardest steal. "Please, I don't know!"

"I can Keep this up all night." The boy's voice developed a sadistic edge as he snapped the man's next finger.

"Naruto…" the other ninja whispered too quietly for their victim to hear through the pain.

"Tell me where she is and this can all be over and behind you… or perhaps you'd rather I continue." He snapped another finger withought waiting for an answer.

He couldn't take it any more, it was too much, the pain was something he could handle on most days but this feeling of helplessness and terror was too much, he couldn't handle it any more. "Second floor. Take a left. Third door on the right side. Just please…"

There was a pain in his chest and then darkness claimed him.

Sasuke stared blankly at the dead man before him, an iron needle sticking out of his chest. He looked up to his team-mate with shock; never would he have expected to see such ruthlessness from the blond boy.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go." There was no emotion in the boy's voice.

"Good work, I'll take care of this guy." Kakashi had returned at some point.

Sasuke nodded, there was too much at stake here to procrastinate.

The plan was simple, Kakashi would take care of the bodies and go provide a distraction outside, and meanwhile the boys would find and rescue Ino and go finish the mission, by any means necessary.

-

They removed their cloaks in a moment and wrung them out in a series of swift movements. The cloaks were folded into bundles far smaller than one would expect of such a large piece of cloth and hidden in their equipment pouches. Shoes were also dried in moments due to the special material they were made from.

Sliding into the stairwell the boys found a man going down the stairs, a moment later he was suspended by his neck with ninja wire attached to the ceiling. Slipping even more carefully down to the second floor and down the hall, the boys exchanged looks and prepared for what lay ahead.

-

She could smell the hot, rancid breath of her captors. The stink from their unwashed bodies and alcohol wafted over her nearly making her gag but she refused to open her mouth for even a moment. There was little she could do but tightly shut her eyes and mouth and wait for it all to be over.

Suddenly she felt her bonds loosen slightly and withought a second thought she struck out with her fist.

There was an impact, a strange squawk and a thump followed by a familiar snicker.

Gathering up the last of her courage she forced an eye open to find a startling scene. Sasuke was lying on the ground in front of her clutching his groin while Naruto stood on an unconscious man's back snickering at his predicament. All around them her captors lay on the ground unmoving.

As she undid the rest of her binds with unsteady hands and tried to hold back her tears she noted puddles of red liquid spreading out from under a few of her former captors. She looked up at the other blond and noted a look of concern in his eyes and the way he seemed to unconsciously grind his heel into the spine of man below him.

Stumbling to her feet and trying to get the circulation back in her limbs she gathered up her courage once again. The nervous breakdown could wait, there was still a mission to finish and Daddy always said, "You can cry all you want when your work is done."

-

It was surprisingly easy to get into the main office and subdue those inside, this could be attributed to Kakashi's distraction. Again Naruto showed his persuasive skills to his team; he had only to look into the head honcho's eyes and gather a little chakra to make the fat man start spilling his guts about every bit of information he had.

As he finished his interrogation Naruto looked at his team-mates, "grab some swords and hack up the bodies a bit. I'll handle the looting." With that he drove a knife into his victim's neck and began rifling through his pockets. Ino remained rooted to the spot but Sasuke quickly got to work.

Several minutes later the trio fled the building and escaped into the woods. Kakashi was waiting for them at headquarters, allowing the other two to get some rest Naruto handled the report: "mission complete, secondary objectives also complete. There were no casualties; the scene has been doctored to suggest a robbery by bandits or Rogue Ninja."

The elder ninja nodded in a professional way and declared, "good work team, now that the mission is complete it is best that we get out of the region, we move out immediately. Leave no evidence of our presence." As he strode towards the door he muttered quietly, "its better that they not have time to consider what happened… not yet."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

It would take almost a day of fast travel to reach the village. Once there Ino would be physically carried to her family home by Naruto and Sasuke would stumble to his own house and collapse on his futon. The mission took less than a week but to the fresh Genin it would feel as though months had passed in the blink of an eye.

-

**AN: well that was not quite how I had planned it but I hope it worked out Ok… I may have rushed it a bit.**

**To those who are wondering:**

**The reason that Sasuke awakened his Sharingan in such a strange was is that I believe that bloodlines are based on emotion, or more precisely on the chemicals that the brain releases as part of certain emotions. The Mangekyo Sharingan has been revealed in the manga to be awakened by sorrow which lends credence to my theory.**

**Ino did not get raped; she almost did but was saved at the last minute…**

**Naruto has scary eyes… think a cross between Orochmaru and the Kyuubi.**

**Also as to why Kakashi didn't take a more active role is quite simple, he is a teacher. It's his job to teach his students and make sure that they get the skills to succeed, not to do their jobs for them.**

**This chapter is the first step in my five-step "Sasuke Reconstruction Plan"**

**I wish you all a Good Evening, even if it is morning where you are.**


	7. Chapter 7

**52-Pick-Up**

**I really don't see why my warped variation on a popular Manga warrants a disclaimer. So in this chapter is won't include one… or maybe I won't include one ever again… if you want a disclaimer go to the first chapter.**

**A recap of the story so far:**

**A six year old Naruto shows impressive talent in interrogation by capturing and intimidating a civilian into revealing the secret of the Kyuubi's defeat. This is witnessed by Ibiki who claims guardianship of the boy and takes him as an apprentice. Several years later Naruto attends the graduation test at the academy and meets Hyuuga Neji who he swiftly befriends only to part ways due to his continued training. Over the next year Naruto meets with and befriends Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino along with the Enigmatic Aburame Shino. He is placed on a team with Ino and Uchiha Sasuke under an old child hood friend of his, an ANBU member named Hatake Kakashi, Code Name: DOG. The team undergoes three months of intense training to get them ready for the dangerous and complicated missions they are likely to take due to their specialty. Their first mission hits a snag when Sasuke's lack of forethought leads to Ino being captured and nearly Raped before the rest of the team organizes and executes a rescue attempt. The mission is completed quickly and the team flees back to Konoha to recuperate from the stress.**

**Now on with the story:**

-

"Where is your base of operations?" a voice growled into the man's ear.

"I told you!!! It's in the west- Graaahhhh!" his gurgling screams consumed whatever he was trying to say.

"Feel free to keep lying; I have plenty of new tricks I would love to try." There was a vicious malice in the voice of his tormentor as he drove a twisted, jagged blade between his captive's knuckles.

Further shrieks echoed down the halls of the interrogation department, just as they had for three days now.

-

"Wait, Naruto!" a tall man in a heavy long coat and a bandana called after him as he walked towards the door.

"Is something wrong, Sensei." The surly blond turned towards his instructor and surrogate father.

"What's wrong is that you're scaring your coworkers… in three days you have driven twelve hardened enemies of this village into broken, slobbering wrecks… you need to calm down. What happened is not your fault." Seeing the boy's sagging shoulders he quickly sped up to do some damage control. "Let's go get some ramen, I'll pay."

The blond just sighed and nodded.

-

"You are beating yourself up over nothing Kakashi-san. They will recover. It is in the nature of youth to bounce back, wounds will heal and resolve will replace confusion. That is what the springtime of youth is all about. Your worries are unfounded; it is but a mater of time before they recover." The man in green put a hand on his old friend's shoulder, no mater how hard he tried to keep a strong and unconcerned mask up in public Kakashi could never hide his true emotions when it was just the two of them, it was the kind of bond that only two lifelong friends and Rivals could have.

There was a kinship between them that could only be forged in the heat of battle and the trenches of war, a bond of brothers.

-

"Everyone came back in one piece; that is what is important. You should move on, calm down and think rationally. You are letting your rage cloud your actions and its starting to affect your coworkers. Naruto, you didn't just break those guy's mental defenses, you broke their minds. Its just not your style, you are usually the one who leaves them beating their heads on a wall muttering about their own stupidity, not rolled up in a corner mumbling incoherent phrases... not that I mind." Anko had joined them half way to the ramen shop and had decided to stick around. Her speeches were confusing at some points since she alternated between worrying about him and complimenting his latest accomplishments.

The ramen shop owners had come to the realization that their best customer had a dark side long ago, but it was rare that they got to hear about it. Usually he left his work at the office and was all smiles when he visited but right now he was Gloomier than that Uchiha boy. Still they didn't ask it was probably something they weren't supposed to know about.

"I should have taken a more active role on the mission. I was the most experienced person there except Kakashi-Onisan. I should have gone with them… I should have…" he was cut off by the teenage girl who was serving him Ramen… oddly enough since he hadn't told her about the mission.

"Stop blaming yourself, you must have had a good reason to not go with them right?" she didn't wait for a response. "You were doing your job and they were doing theirs, you can't be everywhere at once, at least everything turned out OK right?"

The three ninja in front of her stared for several seconds making her get really nervous before nodding in unison. "She is right… strangely enough… perceptive isn't she…" the violet haired woman deadpanned.

"That's why I come here, great food, and great advice!" somehow the boy had cheered up significantly.

"But that what I have been saying for the last hour!" his teacher looked far more confused than the head of the interrogation department had any place being.

The girl smirked and went back to her cooking, "you don't have enough experience talking to teenagers, to them parents are always wrong and older teens are always right! That'll cost you extra by the way."

-

The top spy in Konoha was currently lying on his couch with his head on his wife's lap. It was hard enough to be a father with a preteen daughter even when she wasn't traumatized. And now he had to figure out what to do after she had nearly gotten raped… she hadn't left her room since she got home. Her teammate had carried her home and given a brief explanation of what happened before stumbling away to get some rest. Ino had woken up after a few hours to find her parents looking down on her with worried expressions. Afterwards she had kicked everyone out of her room and only showed herself when someone brought her food. Even then she didn't talk, just took the tray of food and closed the door behind her. Being a master of espionage and mind reading Inoichi had found out far more about her thoughts at the this time than he was comfortable with… she was confused, but that was only one part. She was fixated on the thoughts and feelings of that time when she was about to be assaulted… before she was saved. It was a traumatic experience but the worst part was that she was cursing her own purity… a train of thought that no father wanted his little girl adopting. She believed that if she were not so horrified by the idea of what those men were going to do to her she might have been able to find a way out, and found a way to not drag her team down.

He sighed again, trying to relax and not think about what his little flower was going through upstairs. But no mater what he did, he just couldn't stop thinking about it. Had he failed as a father, should he have found some way to better prepare her for this contingency… or made some plan to deal with the aftermath… or maybe he could erase her memory of that day…

-

Sasuke rammed his fist into the training dummy again, he knuckles were bleeding but he didn't care. He had torn a muscle in his shoulder but he ignored the pain… he had failed to protect those around him yet again.

He had already broken his other hand, and he couldn't feel his feet, his head was spinning but he couldn't stop. He couldn't be weak anymore. He had to be strong so that he never lost anything ever again.

-

"I found him lying unconscious in a training field… he was feverish and the doctors say that he was experiencing severe sleep depravation in addition to a number of torn muscles and ligaments… not to mention broken bones and malnutrition. I don't think he has eaten or slept since you got back."

Kakashi looked up at his rival from where he was sitting. He had gotten word a few minutes ago that one of his students was in the hospital and had rushed over to find Gai standing over Sasuke's bed with a frown on his face.

It would be another two days before the boy was recovered enough to leave the hospital, even with the care of some of the best medics in Konoha.

They would later find that Naruto had taken a leave of absence from the Interrogation department to cool his head and was spending his time playing with the Hokage's grandson to take his mind off the mission. The little boy dreamed of being Hokage to get out from his grandfather's shadow but he was getting nowhere fast. Of course he had asked Naruto to train him in the ninja ways but the older boy told him with finality that it was not safe for him to be around pointy objects in his current state. This somehow led to the two of them lying around in a park staring at the clouds.

Ino was harder to get back. While Naruto had agreed to return to the team with some enthusiasm she had a slightly more explosive reaction to the sight of her team.

"Naruto-kun!" the boy in question was knocked from his feet by a flying, purple projectile. The projectile turned out to be a girl who managed to straddle him and was now grinding her hips against his… it was an odd experience for the twelve-year-old. It had taken several minutes to get the overly amorous girl off of her teammate and another twenty minutes o make her stop crying and convince her that it wasn't in any way her fault that she had been scared of getting raped… a strange conversation the left everyone feeling awkward and embarrassed. Luckily she did not attempt to throw herself on her team mate again.

In the end it took a week to get the team back together and back to training. Still the marks of that fateful night remained. A blazing fire burned in their eyes; never again would that mistake be repeated, never again would they fail their team.

**-**

**AN: I had planned to make this chapter longer and to include a couple of missions but I felt this was good place to pause.**

**I know a lot of people will be upset that I didn't include the awkward discussion with Ino but I felt that it just didn't fit properly… also it's a really awkward sort of conversation involving lots of crying and self hatred witch is really difficult to write. The Scenes with Konohamaru will pop up again with more detail, since he is one of my favorite characters. **

**The next chapter is already started and will be up soon.**

**The characters will not change that much but their attitudes will be more mature. One does not go through something like that without some serious changes.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Go Fish**

**No more disclaimers. I'm getting tired of writing one for every chapter.**

**Missions are starting again and this time there are a lot of them, too many to include them all or even plan them all. So I would like my readers to take into consideration that for every mission that is actually shown there are three others that aren't as interesting or exiting.**

-

Missions began again two days after the team was reformed, training grew more intense for a short time but there were no complaints.

Mornings began with the team running laps, a couple circuits of the village later and the upper body workout could begin. Push ups, pull ups, and dips were preformed in numbers ranging from two hundred to two thousand and this was followed with sit ups, and other abdominal training. Some light stretching later and the Genin would work on their defensive manoeuvres and, to a lower degree, offensive ones as well. This basic training would soon flow into full sparing. Ninjutsu would follow and Kakashi would oversee his students' attempts to perform various techniques and give advice on improvements and errors. Genjutsu would be next and the team practiced various ways of identifying and escaping Genjutsu. As expected Sasuke's progress grew to be much faster than before as he could perfectly imitate most movements, still repetition sharpened his skills and widened each move's range of uses. Ino's new level of ambition constantly pushed her to new heights but Naruto's growth rate stayed mostly the same, it was fast certainly but there was something missing and he knew it. There was some kind of wall that just couldn't be overcome without a new technique or a new approach to fighting, something vital.

Missions rarely took more than a couple of days and never more than a week but limited training time to only three days at a time. The first mission after the incident was an odd one, someone had stolen the Cat that belonged to the Daimyo's wife… and boy was she pissed!

"I WAN'T THAT LOW LIFE BOILED IN OIL! DO YOU HEAR ME?" the lady's enraged bellows could be heard emanating from the Hokage's office.

"I think everyone in the land of Fire can dear." Her husband patted her on the shoulder before leaning in closer to the leader of his ninja forces and adding a special condition. "I can't take much more of this! Get it done in two days or less or your funding will be torn as badly as my eardrums!"

The elderly gentleman just nodded at him and replied, "It will be done, Daimyo-dono."

-

It was a questionable idea to send Genin to find the cat but if it worked they would be sure to get a rather gaudy feather in their already impressive cap.

Two teams of Genin were both given this mission along with three teams of Chunin and an elite tracker group. Strangely enough it was neither the Elites nor the chunin that got the culprit.

Both the elite trackers and team 8 had decided to start at the scene of the crime and look for a trail; on the other hand the chunin had gone about scouring the countryside.

One team of Genin though had taken a slightly different approach.

"More tea Daimyo-dono?" the girl's voice barely interrupted the Lady's loud weeping.

"Yes, thank you young lady. Though I had not expected ninjas to be looking after us, shouldn't you be out searching?"

"Please just relax Daimyo-dono. I and my team are mostly here to distract you and just talk. My sensei always says that I am really easy to talk to… and there are a lot of various criminals in the nearby prison who would confirm that." The blond boy said in a light and relaxed manner.

The conversation started rather slowly as the influential couple slowly began to exchange rather amusing anecdotes about talking to various servants and councillors and the boy reciprocated with tales of his more amusing interrogations such as the time he had gotten a captured Kunoichi wrapped around his little finger by playing the cute-little-orphan card.

It was near the end of this discussion when the Lady mentioned how her cat actually had a favourite maid. The Daimyo was the only one who noticed the sudden spark that flashed through the child's eyes. "She must be terribly depressed about the whole affair; I do hope she is aright." The innocent tone revealed nothing.

"Oh dear, I haven't told her!" the Lady practically jumped up in shock, "she left on her vacation to see her family just a day before the whole thing started! I should have sent her a message!" the distraught Lady missed the alert, calculating look in the blond boy's eyes.

Without a word he turned to the other boy, a silent child who had said nothing the whole time. "Sasuke, send a letter to this maid and be sure to make sure she is aware of how distraught her employer is." There was a tone of command in his voice and the other boy didn't question it.

Within two hours a message came back saying that the maid had found the cat to be curled up among her baggage and had assumed that her mistress knew about it. She had been looking after it for two days now, showing it around her home town. She had not realized that her mistress would react so strongly to the feline's absence.

The matter was resolved quickly and Daimyo could not be more pleased. The cat was found swiftly and safely while providing him and his wife with an opportunity to relax and take their mind off palace intrigue for a day. It is needless to say that when the Lord of Fire is happy then the Hokage is happy and when the Hokage is happy, good things happen.

The team received a massive bonus which they would find out later was taken out of the pay of the elite tracker team for being outdone by a trio of Genin. The elites had not complained and were thoroughly embarrassed by their failure.

-

Several other less memorable missions passed mostly involving trips to the border to "interview" various suspected spies.

More than one such mission involved visiting a border village and subtly looking for suspicious people while a team of more combat focused ninja stood by as backup. Within two months the team had caught 3 spies, 8 smugglers, and one very creepy, gay pedophile. Sasuke was not at all amused by the last one and took great pleasure in handing the badly beaten and tied up man to the proper authorities.

_(Mini-disclaimer: I have nothing against gay __people) _

Soon the team was sent on a more serious mission. The Daimyo's youngest son was missing… and this one couldn't be attributed to vacationing staff members.

"The most important thing you must understand about this mission is that it was not the Fire lord who has requested it." The Hokage was rather grim as he explained the importance of the mission. "It was his eldest son and Heir. This means the mission is extremely important. If the future Daimyo is displeased with our performance on the first mission he requests he will have a poor first impression of the village and will be more difficult to convince of our trustworthiness. You may find that a number of other villages will attempt to ether prevent us from succeeding or find the boy first so they look better in comparison. You must not fail!"

The ninja assembled before him nodded in a serious manner, all sixty of them.

-

The team was sent out in the company of four ANBU members. At noon on the third day they found signs of bandit activity in the area.

Tracking proved to be difficult but the seven found an abandoned outpost after several hours. Despite attempts to conceal it, the building had been inhabited until recently. There were stains from spilled alcohol and other less savoury odours all throughout the interior. Broken chairs had not yet gotten faded by the elements and the door hinges were recently oiled. No amount of dirt, twigs and moss could hide these signs.

Some additional travel brought the team to a small village. Settling in for the night they prepared to set out in the morning to continue the search.

-

Kakashi had drawn the short straw and now it was his turn at watch. An hour had passed when he saw a shadowed figure walking through a nearby alley. Hopping from his perch as silently as the wind he took chase.

The figure seemed to realize it was being followed and took evasive actions, proving Kakashi's theory of it being a ninja. Still Hatake Kakashi was not famous for nothing, his tracking skills allowed him to finally corner the slippery ninja in a dark alley. He had just prepared to attack when the moonlight slid across the ninja's forehead protector. An hourglass symbol stood in sharp contrast to the shadows around it.

"Sand ninja, what are doing in Leaf village territory?" he rose from his perch and let his face (or lack there of) be seen.

The sand ninja shifted from his defensive stance, "My team is just returning from a mission, I was just running a recon of the area before we camp for the night."

"You are up rather late."

"We don't sleep much; we hopped to get a couple extra miles behind us."

"I see I apologise if I seem rude but there are several teams running important training exercises in the area, we do not tolerate trespassers at a time like this. Make sure you get out of here by sun rise." He turned and hopped off to his post. The sand ninja could be a spy, he probably was but it was better to keep neutral relations at a time like this. The sand ninjas were their allies and it would not do to alienate them.

-

"I could kill you."

"I suppose," the boy looked up, "but I don't think you will."

The other boy seemed a little bit put off by that statement, still he sat down again and went back to staring at the night sky.

"It's a beautiful night." The blond walked over to sitting boy and sat down next to him.

The other boy didn't respond.

"You're up pretty late." He commented after several more minutes.

"I don't sleep." Well that was an odd statement.

"I envy you, you don't get nightmares." The blond added with a laugh.

"I have never slept in my life." Good, he was opening up a little.

"That's odd, but I bet you could get a lot more stuff done in that time. Even if it is a little lonely." That got a reaction. The redhead jerked slightly as if he had been slapped. His eyes shifted to the blond boy beside him, the momentary rage slipped away however at the sight of those eyes. They weren't the eyes of a carefree child like he had expected. They were sharp as razors and cold as ice. They bore a kind of deep sorrow that he recognized. They were so similar to his.

"What would you know of loneliness?" two could play at this game.

"Not as much as some, but far more than most." The response was cryptic but the redhead seemed to catch the hidden meaning.

Not much was said from then on; the duo just sat and stared at the sky for several hours before going their separate ways.

-

When Naruto walked into the room shared by their team, a hush fell over the room for a moment.

"You seem happy." Strangely it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

"It's a beautiful night and the creepy foreigners are talkative." He grinned; "I just got a bit of insight into the mind of a rather intriguing sand ninja. Why wouldn't I be happy?" judging by the startled looks, the team wasn't aware of the sand ninja's presence.

It was at this time that Kakashi arrived; he quickly detailed his meeting with the sand Jonin and noticed the questioning looks towards Naruto.

"It's not the same one. The guy I was with couldn't be more than a chunin."

"Did you get any good information?" one of the Anbu members asked calmly.

"No, just a little insight. I don't think they will interfere."

"They were probably sent for that reason."

"I know, but trust me. I don't think they will stick around."

-

Meanwhile at the sand camp

"We are leaving." The sleepy team looked up at their youngest member in shock.

"Huh, why"

-

"Just trust me; I don't think they will be a problem." The blond boy commented.

_-__12:26 the next day-_

"Silence here, I have visual confirmation. We got one."

"This is Shadow, I see him, moving to intercept." The voices crackled from the microphone. "Capture successful, I'm on my way back.

Two masked ninja watched with amazement as a rookie team of Genin executed a capture and retrieval mission with efficiency that rivalled many veteran teams. A group of Jonin would have surely been more effective but for regular bandits these children were more than enough. So far they had seen the stealth skills of the Uchiha and Yamanaka children but Uzumaki had not done anything, simply cleaning up a small room.

So far he had changed several light bulbs, moved furniture and arranged a number of small boxes and packages on a table by the door.

Now as the Anbu members watched, he washed his hands and approached the prisoner. As the man woke up and became aware of his surroundings the boy opened the first box.

Syringes filled with unknown liquids sparkled under the new light bulbs. The young interrogator examined them carefully and smiled in satisfaction, then moved to the next box. This time an impressive array of shinning blades was revealed, followed by some tiny vials of venom.

By this point the unwashed captive began to understand just what was about to happen, and the next box pushed him over the edge.

As the sparkling thumbscrew was revealed the intended victim broke down, crying and begging for mercy.

The jack of spades had struck again.

-

the first victim lead the ninjas to his direct superior, who lead them to a drinking buddy, who in turn was the underling of a man who had recently come into a mysterious cargo. The man in question was found and through the precision of the Anbu reinforcements, captured. He proved to be far more resilient than Naruto's previous victims (meaning of course that he started talking only after the young inquisitor had introduced himself) and lead the group to his client, a former ninja from the Land of Grass.

The Anbu team let off to apprehend the suspect with out delay and the Genin finally took a proper break.

The very next morning the ninjas of Team Kakashi and Anbu team 8 were on their way home with the young prince sitting in the back of a wagon. Since horses were hard to get on such short notice and the nearest jail was out of their way, one young ninja came up with a way to kill two birds with one stone.

"Let's just make them pull the cart." Ino's insight was met with owlish looks and smirks.

"I'll go give them the good news!" now that lead to outright laughter, as Naruto headed off with a grin on his face. No one was sure just how he did it but the blond twelve year-old had cowed a group of hardened criminals with just a glance. One man could have been a fluke, but to shatter the resolve of 4 career criminals without touching them once, now that was talent.

The mission had taken only a few days but it earned the Genin of Rookie Team 7 an all new level of fame and respect. Kakashi was riding high on the awed looks of his peers, the exaggerated tales of talent and valour and most importantly his new title, The Trainer of Heroes!

-

**It took me a long time to get this update done, and I am sorry but I can't promise an increase in speed just yet. I don't have a laptop anymore so I am stuck using the computer in my basement and it's just not the same. Lower availability, slower, colder… etc.**

**I am hoping to be faster now that this one is done.**

**Notes:**

**Naruto and co. have taken about 30 missions all together at this point and they are all C level or higher.**

**Kakashi's new title is taken from Disney's Hercules (You must seek out Philletetes the Trainer of Heroes!)**

**The next chapter will kick off the Chunin exams and then the real fun begins; including the next phase of the Sasuke reconstruction Project.**


End file.
